Apparatus for and methods of aligning webs for lamination



June 9, 1953 J. L. MOCLEARY. ET AL APPARATUS FOR AND METHODS OF ALiGNINGWEBS FOR LAMINATION Filed Oct. '7, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS.

J1me 1953 J. 1.. MCCLEARY ETAL 2,641,416

APPARATUSIFOR AND METHODS OF ALIGNING WEBS FOR LAMINATION Filed Oct. 7,1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN-TORS.

pomp

0 l r m w Patented June 9, 1953 APPARATUS FOR AND METHODS OF ALIGNINGWEBS FOR LAMINATION Jason L. McGleary and Roy E. Lowey, Jr., MountVernon, Ohio, assignors to Shellmar Products Corporation, Chicago, 111.,a

Delaware corporation of Application October '7, 1950, Serial No. 188,914

4 Claims.

1 This invention relates to new and useful improvements and innovationsin apparatus for and methods of aligning webs undergoing continuouslamination.

In the art of laminating two or more webs together by passing the websbetween combining rolls, accurate alignment of the running webs so thatthe edges register has constituted a difficult and annoying problem forwhich there has heretofore been no completely satisfactory solution. Weare aware that various schemes and apparatus have been previouslyproposed for the purpose of maintaining webs in alignment. A number ofpatents have issued covering different forms of apparatus for aligningwebs two of which are 1,691,772 and 1,858,436.

It is current practice in modern laminating plants to employcommerciallyavailable automatic type devices for the purpose of aligningWebs as accurately as practical before they pass between the combiningrolls. In so far as we are aware these various control and aligningdevices now in use all operate on the same principle of attempting tokeep the edge of each running web in a fixed line as nearly aspractical. While these presently available web control devices are ofsome value, at best they only do a relatively incomplete job ofaccurately aligning the primary webs and secondary webs as they run inbetween the combining rolls.

For example, in present laminating apparatus it is the practice to havethe width of the primary web exceed the width of the adhesive coatingthereon by from to of an inch along each edge. The purpose of havingthese uncoated margins along the edges of the primary web is to allowfor inaccuracy in alignment of the secondary web with the primary web asthe webs pass between the combining rolls. In other words, the primaryand secondary webs may be out of alignment as much as of an inch on aside and yet the secondary will still mask or cover the adhesive coatingon the primary web. However, even with this overlap of A; to 1% of aninch on each side of the primary web, it is still not unusual for thewebs to become so unaligned that the adhesive coating on the primary webis not covered along one edge whereupon some of the adhesive ispicked-up on the combining rolls. When this happens, the webs stick andbreak resulting in a waste of material as well as loss of time andproduction due to the shut down time required to clean the machine andthen put it back into production. In this connection, when the machinesare put back into production there 2 is also some wastage which occursat the initial portion of the new run. At the present time it is alsofrequently necessary to rewind secondary web rolls after they areprinted and before lamination in order to lay each successive rolldirectly on the top of the preceding one. If these poorly woundsecondary web rolls are not thus rewound, there will be sudden andfrequent changes inthe positions of the edges of the secondary web as itis unwound so that the laminating operation carinot be properly carriedout on the present apparatus.

According to the present invention novel apparatus and methods areprovided which apply a new principle to the problem of aligning websundergoing lamination. When the new apparatus and methods are applied tolaminating ma,- chines now in use, the uncoated overlap or margin alongthe edges of the primary webs whichv is now customarily from to of aninch, can be safely reduced to to T13 of an inch thereby effecting asubstantial saving of waste in the material due to trimming of the edgesafter lamination. Based on the foregoing figures, the waste due totrimming can ordinarily be reduced from as much as 50% to as much asFurthermore, when the new apparatus and methods are employed theoverlaps of a e of an inch to the overlaps of of an inch give sufficienttolerance so that even when poorly wound secondary web rolls are used,there is practically no dimculty encountered due to adhesive sticking onthe combining rolls and subsequent breakage.

of the webs and shut downs. Accordingly the savings which can beeffected by use of the present invention by way of decreased waste andshutdown time, are very substantial.

in one of the webs (e. g. the primary web) serves as a reference orcontrol web and the other websv (e. g. the secondary webs) areautomatically maintained in alignment with the reference web,

which may shift or weave from side-to-side.

Certain other objects of the invention will, V in part, be obvious andwill in part appear here--'' inafter.

For a more complete understanding of the na-- ture and scope of thepresent invention, refer-- ence may now be had to the following detaileddescription thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a partly diagrammatic and -schematic View showing one completeembodiment of the invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are, respectively, diagrammatic views of the twoservomotors and control apparatus forming part of the apparatus shown inFig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is ia diagrammatic viewishowing an .electrical type of servomotorand control apparatus that may be employed in lieu of the servomotorsand control apparatus shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings two conventiomtlwornbining rolls, one being arubber 'covere'd-roll-an'd the other being a steam heatedesteel rollareindicated at 5 and 6 for laminatinga prim-aryweb I and a secondaryweb 8 withwthenlaminated sheet 215 being wound up on roll II! which issuitably driven. The primary web I is.guided-into the combining rolls 5and B by means o'fa"free"running support or idler roll I I while thesecondary web 8 is similarly passed over a free runningguideandrsupportroll, I.2. L'Ihe webs Land amay be. tormedoianysuitablematerial sucheas paper, metalioil .or. plastic. Specifically/ 1 andT8-may.be

formedof. :such material asfkraftipaper, .glassine papenaluminumioil,..cell0phane,1.Plidfilm,L Saran, polyethylene, etc. .Alaminatingadhesive. is.coated onto one of v.the .webs .and this web .iscustomar'ily referred i to vas I-the' ,primary web. The adhesive-c'oating is shown on .the surface .of .the primary web'I I .inzFig. L1and is shown toextend up '.to ashort space 'ifrom the opposite edges .ofthe web I. 'This uncoated marginal strip along each .edge of the web 1.isindicated .at I.3-.I'3 andiisfor the pmposeiofallowingithe secondaryCal Th'eprim'arywebl is usuallyled ontdthesupw port and guide roll I Ifromno'ating 'app'aratusfor applying the 'a'dh'esiveand, whenreqdired,itrnay first'pass through-an ovenor und'erbanksofheat lamps-toplaceit'in'nroper conditi'onfor lamina? ing with the "secondary "web 8.""The"secondary' web t *may be suppi-iedfrom "a "roll 1- 1 "on which it*is wound. In practice, thesecondary'web is often iprinted "with"suitable advertising and *descriptive material. Accordingto"the-presentinverition' the r611 1 G has to' be supported in suwa way that it may bereadi'lyan d ffreely shifte'ti laterally from -side=to'-'s-i'de in-='or'der that the *s'e'condar-y web '8 ='may be man-irained in accuratealignment -with the primary -web -l. In 'Fig. '-1 the web roll F4 isshoWn--suppoi'teii between erfd suppor-tbe'arings 15-4 5 which aremounted-on the fpiatform l li ofa carriage provided with supporitingwheels at"each '-corner. m ehpr the w'hel orirnller' tm'its' compi isesanupper whel or' rolier II anti 8a 'bott'orn Wheel or roller l t"supported from thezeorner or kthe platform l e by means of a daraketiorrleg :Ztiwith the. wheels I 1 and ill-8 being supported and journaledon stub shafts Z-I+2I. The rrcarri'age 'runs'over'raiis or tracks2-2-":22 with thetupperwheels I I supporting the weight zof the carriageon the' tra'cks and the lower wheels 5 H3 insuring that th'e .carria'gecannot t'ilt or otherwise disengage fromthetra'cks' fl. It-w'ill otherarrangements may be provided whereby the web roll I4 may be movablysupported so that it may be shifted from side-to-side during the courseof the laminating operation.

The combining rolls 5 and t and the wind up rolliI-IJ will bedriven insynchronism thereby pullingthe webs 'Iian tl 8 through the laminatingapparatus and unwinding the secondary web 8 from tthe supply roll I4.

According to the present invention, one of the web I=or-'3 serves as areference or control web while the other web is maintained in accuratealignment .with the reference or control web.

.Intthe arnangementeshown in Fig. l, the primary eservesias-thereferenceor control Web and the secondaryweb K8 is continuously maintained inaccurate alignment therewith. The automatically "operated mechanism formaintainin theieecondary web 8 inaccurate alignment with the primary webI as these webs pass over the support .rolls II and I2 and=into.thecombining rolls 5..and J8 includes apair of :devices -Z3.and 2'4 whichare sensitive "to the location-of the 0Qlresponding edges of 'therunning =webs and 8,

respectively. As will.appear..more 'fullyhereinafter, ..the .edgesensitive devices 123 and .24 may take several "forms and .the invention.in its broader aspects .is notllimitedlinrespect to any particular formor .theedge sensitive .de-vicesas employed. "Normally, the .edgesensitive .devices on one installation willZbe-of'the same or similartype, although there is -no reason'toprevent 'devices 16fdifierent-typesbeing used. 'In thea'rrangementshown'infFig. 'l eaehoftheedge sens'itive "devices"23 and iMis rigidly siJ .pq':orted .on'

opposite ends ofia-LrigidmemberJZBiby means of the. supporting members'26 and 2"! respectively. Theedgesensitive "devi'cefitmaybe spacedsomewhat fartherfrom' the 'guide ro'll I12 than the edge. sensitivedevice '23 iis. spaced from the guide roll. II. difference spacingcompensates .for.

any timelagwhi'ch may berinvolvedinthe operation of the apparatus tobring the controlled edge-of "thesecon dary web 8 into alignment withthe control edge of the "primary web I when the latter *hasshifted'to'one side or the other. :Where. this time 'lag'is not consequen'tiaL'thisdifference,

in spacing is not necessary.

The transverse-member 25 'is "supported at the middle by "'a clampmember "28 .carried on "the outer end of thecohnectihgrod 38 of aservomotor I In the embodiment "of the "invention shown in *Fig. 1 the-'servomotor '3! takes the form "of a double-ating cylinder "wherein thepiston and *the connecting rod *3 t constitute the output elements. "The'servomotor Si is controlled and operated by means of a controlunit 32.This unitand the e'dge'sensitive devices 23 and' il l will be describedin detail below in conneetien with Figs. 52 and "3. The control unit 32is "connected with a "source of fluid pressure delivered through thepipe tiirand operates to supply fiuid under pressure to the servom otor31 at-opposite "ends of the-cylinder through the pressure lines 34and35. The control unit 32"15 in turnactuate'd b'y variations in airpressure received from "the conduit 35 leading "from the.

edge sensitive "device 2-3. Air under regulated pressureisdntroducedinto the device 23 through a fiexible connection 3i.

when a' zero line thro-ugh'the' device -23 is in registration with the"edge or the web '7 the anio'unt'o'f pressure delivered to the controlunit 32 through the connection 36 will 'be of such armagnitude -that thecontrol unit "'32 will serve be understood and rrappre'ci'ated thatnumerous 110im21ifi1la1in16qu9l1 "pressures FP S tesideS of thedouble-acting piston within the servomotor 3| and there will be nomovement of thepiston and the connecting rod 38. However, if the zeroline of the device 23 is not in registration with the edge of the web 1,then a greater or lesser pressure will be delivered to the control unit30 depending upon which side of the zero line the web edge lies. Theresult will be that the control unit 36 will apply an excess of pressureto one side or the other of the piston of the servomotor 3| therebycausing the piston to move in one direction or the other carrying withit the connecting rod 38 and the edge sensitive devices 23 and 24supported from the cross beam 25. As will appear from the followingdescription in connection with Figs. 2 and 3, the piston within theservomotor 3| will continue to move in the proper direction until thedevice 23 is back in zeroed position with respect to the edge of therunning web I.

With respect to the edge sensitive device 24 and the running web 8,since the position of the device 24 is determined by the operation ofthe device 23, the zero relationship between the guided edge of the web8 and the device 24 is obtained and maintained by shifting the positionof the web roll l4. A servomotor 40 operated by a control unit 4| whichis regulated or controlled by the edge sensitive device 24 serves toshift the carriage on which the web roll I4 is supported. The servomotor40 may be of the same type as the servomotor 3| and the control unit 4|may likewise be of the same type as the control unit 32. The connectingrod 39 of the servomotor 40 is coupled to the carriage for the web rollI4 by means of a suitable coupling 42 joining the outer end of theconnecting rod 39 and the outer end of a rod 43 which projects from thecarriage unit as shown. Air pressure for the edge sensitive device 24 isdelivered through a flexible connection 44 and the pressure from thedevice 24 is communicated to the control unit 4| through a flexibleconnection 45. Fluid presmotor 40 and the piston remains stationary sothat no movement is imparted to the carriage supporting the web r011 l4.If the zero relationship between the device 24 and the edge of the web 8is disturbed either through shifting of the device 24 or shifting of theedge of the Web, then an excess of pressure will be applied to theproper side of the double-acting piston so that it moves in the properdirection to shift the carriage so as to bring the edge of the Web 8back into zero relationship with the edge sensitive device 24.

The construction and operation of the servomotors 8| and 46 and theircontrol units 32 and 4| will now be set forth in greater detail inconnection with Figs. 2 and 3. The servomotor control apparatusconsisting of the servomotors 3| and 40, the control units 32 and 4|,and the edge sensitive devices 23 and 24 may be adaptions of acommercial type such as those which may be obtained from the AskaniaRegulator Company, Chicago, Illinois. The air inlet connections 31 and44 may be provided with check valves 58 and 5| respectively so that theair pressure may be turned off when the regulators are. not in use.

The air connections 31 and 44 may be connected with the plant airpressure system or separateair compressor units may "be utilized. Eachof the edge sensitive devices 23 and 24 has a slot opening 52 or 53,respectively, in which the respective edges of the webs 1 and 8 run.Preferably the devices 23 and 24 are positioned so that the edges of thewebs run close to the air pres- 1 sure intake ports 54 and 55respectively. The flexible air pressure connections 36 and 45communicate between the intake ports 54 and 55,

respectively, and bellows units 56 and 51, respectively, which formelements of the control units 32 and 4 I. The control unit 32 has an oiljet pipe 58 which is pivotally connected at 66 to the oil pressure inletline 33. The jet pipe 58 is connected on one side to the bellows unit 56while wheel 62.

sure to the jet pipe 58. The oil discharged from the outlet end of thejet pipe 58 is directed into an oil pressure distributor block havingbranched conduit paths 66 and 61 communicating with a common inlet port68. The oil pressure line 34 to the servomotor 3| is connected with theright-hand conduit or passageway 61 while the pressure line 35 isconnected with the left hand passageway 66 as shown in Fig. 2.

When initially starting u the apparatus the tension on the spring 6| isso regulated that the oil jet pipe 58 will distribute the oil underequal pressures to both of the passageways 66 and 61 when the adjacentedge of the web I coincides with a diameter line through the intake port54.

When this relationshi exists the device 23 is zeroed with the webdouble-actin piston within the servomotor 3| will be equal and the:piston will be held motionless.

of the intake port 54 would be uncovered and a greater amount of airpressure introduced from the line 31 will be picked up and deliveredthrough the flexible conduit 36 to the bellows unit 56. The

bellows unit 56 is thereby expanded so as to allow the oil jet pipe 58to be turned counterclockwise thereby delivering an excess of oilpressure into the passageway 66 while the oil pressure delivered intothe passageway 61 is decreased. The excess in pressure will build up onthe rear (left) side of the piston of the servomotor 3| thereby forcingthe piston to the right and forcing the connecting rod 36 also to theright. As described above in connection with Fig. 1 the edge sensitivedevice 23 is op-eratively connected to the connecting rod 30 and thiswill shift the device 23 to the right as viewed in Fig. 2 therebycovering up a greater portion of the intake port area 54. The excesspressure continues to exist and move the connecting rod 30 until thedevice 23 has been so shifted that it is once again zeroed with respectto the edge of the moving web 1 whereupon the.

pressures to the servomotor 3| will again be equalized and theconnecting rod 30 and the device 23 will be stationary. Conversely,should the web 1 shift to the left as viewed in Fig. 2 so as to cover upmore than half of the intake area I of the port 54, the pressuredelivered to the bellows unit 56 would be decreased and the oil jet pipe58 would be moved clockwise to a position Under these conditions thepressures delivered to opposite sides of the v If the web I should nowshift to the right .as viewed in Fig. 2, a greater portion of the areaacetone:-

7 wlti an ei'icess of oilpressurewoulii bitleliveiied to the'passageway'6! and the oil- ;pressure doliv ered to the assagewavst wouldbedccreasedi Accordingly, an excess of pressure will he applied to=thefront I (might) side o'ftlie double-actingpis-- ton and the piston willice-moved so as to retract thevconnecing i'0d 'and Shift the etigesensitive device 23'- away from the edge of the web until it is.againzero'e'eli and the pressures are-equalized.

The control unit-Ma which operates the servomotor' correspondsinrconstructi'on: to the controll: In addition to its bellows-element51:, its-has-an 'oil Jj'et'; pipe. 70 "pivotally mounted "at H and;'comrectedi with the oil inlet connection 463 which: is supplied with:oil under pressure bymeans of :apump t2 drivenby an 'el'ectricmntor l3;'llhe'oiiljet pipe I0 ist'connected on one side to th'e heliowselement 5anclonthe other sideis-"connected by an adjustable tension spring 14' toa nigidv'connection. The tension on the-spring. 145 may beradjustedbyturning a thumb knot 115'. The oil distributor 'b'lockHihastwwpassageways TI- and 'l=8-con'neoting with ascommoninlet port 80into which th oil under pressure-is delivered from theoiljetpip'e M). Inthis-case the oil-pressure tine 48 tothe servomotor 40 isnonnectedto-theright-hand passageway 7'8 while the-oil pressure line 4'?" isconnected to the left-hand passageway H of the oil distributor biock1%..

explained: above: inconnection with Fig. I the position' of theedgesensitive'device 2'4 isde termined by means of the operation' ottheedge sensitive device 23'. It the clevice-M' should?be moved to theleft as viewed in Fig. 3:, it would no: longer be zeroed with respect to'the: 'edgeof the-web 8 and more thanhailf' of areaoithe intake port 55woul'd be uncovered: so that the" flexible conduit woulclvreceive and'deliver an increased pressure to the bellows unit 5 thereby causing theoil jet pipe '50 to swing: to the lettwofi its center position.Theresult is that aneexcess of pressure is delivered to theoilline fll'amd the oil pressure'in oil line 38 is-clecreased. The ocoble-actingpiston of the servomotor MI "and the connecting rod--39 are therebycaused to shift to the left as viewed in Fig. 3 and. through theconnection to the carriage supporting the web roll:

Hi this web '8 will be shifted-to-thalefit until onehalf of the area-ofthe-intake port is again covered. Should the edge sensitive device 24'be: shifted to the right, the apparatuswould operate in just the reverseto provide a greater pressure to the rear side of the-double-actingpiston and result in the shifting of the web roll 14 to the right soasto uncover the exact one-half 'of'the area of the intake port 55-. Theservomot'or control apparatus in- Fig. 3 operates in a like manner totake care of shifts in th wen-a due to'unevenness in winding on the rollIA.

The "operation of the embodiment of the-invention shown in Figs. 1', 2and 5 has been described above in connection therewith. It will be seenthat the primary web 1 serves as a control or re'ferenceweb and that theedge sensitive device 23 is automatically maintained in zeroedrelationship with respect to the edge of the web 1. On the other hand,the edge sensitive device 2'4, the position of which is determined bythe edge sensitive device 23, serves to operate the apparatus whichshifts the web 8 and maintains it in zeroed relationship with respect tothe device 24. The net result is that, within the limits 'of accuracy ofthe apparatus, the controlled edge of the secondary web 8 is alwaysmaintained with alignti'onal-apparatu's of-the'type in Fig. 3 will.

be added for each such additional web.

' As mentioned above the servomzotors and the control. apparatus maytake several different forms. Fig; 4 of the drawings an electrical typeservomotor control apparatus. is shown which may be substituted forthatshown in F ig. 2.- The edge sensitive device indicated generally atis in the form of. a photoelectric eye comprising a light source 86- anda photoelectric-cell.

a 8'1 placed above. the lig'ht sol-nee cfi so as to. re-

ceivea light beam therefrom. The photoelectric-cell 8:1 is connected inseries circuit relationship with a :ga'lv'anometer type instrument 88 bymeans of the conductors 90.; 91 and 92:. The photocell 8? is of the typewhereinfitheresistance of the-colt varies: with the amount of lightreceived icy it and the .galvanometer adijusteda so: when/theweb 7: :iszeroed so.-

that it; covers just' one-half or the photocell; 81 the movable element"as of: the IgaLvanometer 88' "between electrical contacts 94' andi'aiaThe pnotocellati' may be oithebloching. layer: type" for. example.

The new windings lcfl5va nds 11M ofa reversible electric motor 911 (thezservomoiior in- 331 115. emmoment of the: invention) are connected;circult relationship: through. relay unlts fi i: and til,respeot-iveiy,, to'one terminal of thercun ent source. I08 and to theother terminal 013 the current source through: the winding of. the rotorM1,. as shown. The galvanometer 8:8; has a'terininal the whichisconnected tonne terminal of the currenta -source 1:630. There is; aninternal CO'HIIGCF- tion in-the'ga'lvanometcr connects the terminal Hi-3to the movable element as which is: formed oi aeonrlncting metal. Theelectrical contacts-.Qtand: 35 are connected by conductors Hi] and H1to. relays 98 and lit, respectively.

themovaible-element 93 of the galvanometer 88' is. incontact withterminal M the relay '98. is-energ-ized and the .fieldvwi-nding 1-36. ofmotor 96- is. energized. Whentheelement :33 is in contact withthe-oOntact element 95 the relay 91; is energized and the field-winding-|:Ki5 of themetor 9B is-energized. Thed'rive shaft Nil of :themotor.'98. carries a pinion. M22 which meshes with a rack. 1113' whichis-sui-tably connected with the edgesensitive deviceilfi. For example,the-unit 85 may be supported on the. rod/26 carried on. oneendoflthebeam-QE shown Fig. 1. In this-embodiment the rack 1.03-constitutes the output elementof eleotricmotor 8 t and is connected tothe beam '25 through therod 30.

In" operation, if thev web is zeroed with. respect with the. photocell 81 then the element 93' bf'tlie galvanometer BB will lie midway :betweenthe 'eoritac'tswi and'9'5 and. neither of the fields I65 or I176 of the.motor 96 will be energized and the rack and pinion combination H32 andH13 willbe stationary. 'If the web 1 shouldnow shift to the left so asto uncoverinore than one-half of. the. receiving surface of thephotocell the. resistance. of this cell will change and the galvanometer88' will becomeunbalanced so that the elementwsflmoves into: contactwith "one of the terminals on or QS -so as to energizeone-of "thefieldstof .the areversing motor 'gfi which willmove the-racksoastorshift the-edge sensitive device 85 to'theileit dmtilrBitIis-againzero'ed'with respect to thewedgie (fifths-web Conversely, iithe'web 1'should shift to the right from the zeroed position so as to therebycover up more than half of the light receiving area of the photocell 87,then the opposite contact will be engaged by the mov' able element 93and the other field of the motor 96 will be energized so as to shift theedge sensitive device to the right until it is once more zeroed.

While in Fig. 1 of the drawings we have shown the edge sensitive devices23 and located in advance of the idler guide rolls ii and :2,respectively, it will be understood that these air pick-up heads ordevices may also be located in rear of the idler rolls. That the device23 would be located between idler roll ii and the combining rolls 5 and6 and device 24 would be similarly located between the idler roll it andthe combining rolls 5 and G. In this latter arrangement, the idler roll[2 and the web roll M are preferably both mounted on the same movablecarriage which is shifted by the servomotor 40. Having the idler roll [2co-mounted with the web roll 14 facilitates the shifting of thesecondary web 8.

In view of the foregoing disclosure those skilled in the art will beable to provide other embodiments of the invention which will comewithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, it isto be understood that the foregoing specific embodiments of theinvention described above in connection with the accompanying drawingsare intended to be interpreted as illustrative and are not to beconstrued in a limiting sense.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In laminating apparatus of the class described for the continuouslamination of a plurality of webs between combining rolls. means formaintaining corresponding edges of said webs in alignment as they feedinto said combining rolls, comprising in combination, a first devicesensitive to the location of the edge of a moving web supported insensitive relationship with an edge of one of said webs, a firstservomotor including control means therefor, said first servomotor beingoperatively controlled by said first edge sensitive device whereby theoutput element of said first servomotor is in a stationary position whena zero line through said first device is maintained in registration withthe edge of said first web and said output element moves in one of twoopposite directions depending upon which side of said zero line said webedge may lie, support means for said first edge sensitive deviceoperatively connected with said output element of ,said first servomotorwhereby said servomotor operates to maintain said first edge sensitivedevice in zeroed registration with the edge of said first web as thelatter shifts from side-to-side, a second edge sensitive device, supportmeans for said second edge sensitive device supporting it in sensitiverelationship with the edge of a second web which is to be aligned withthe edge of said first Web and operatively connecting it with said firstedge sensitive device whereby it is moved in unison therewith, a secondservomotor including control means therefor, said second servomotorbeing operatively controlled by said second edge sensitive devicewhereby the output element of said second servomotor is in a stationaryposition when a zero line through said second edge sensitive device isin registration with the edge of said second web and said latter outputelement moves in one of two opposite directions depending upon whichside of said zero line said latter web edge may lie, a support roll forsaid second web, a shiftable support for said sup-port roll whereby thelatter may be shifted from side-to-side, and connecting meansoperatively interconnecting said support means with the output elementof said second servomotor whereby when said second edge sensitive deviceis shifted in unison with said first edge sensitive device said secondservomotor operates to shift said support roll so as to bring the edgeof said second web into zero registration with said second edgesensitive device and thereby into registration with the edge of saidfirst web.

2. In the continuous lamination of a plurality of webs wherein the websare run over support rolls and fed in between combining rolls, theimprovement which comprises, allowing one of said webs to serve as areference web, automatically following one edge of said control web asit weaves from side-to-side, and automatically shifting the supportrolls on which the remaining webs are supported so as to shift theremaining webs into alignment with said reference web.

3. The apparatus called for in claim 1 wherein each of said devicessensitive to the location of the edge of a moving web comprises an airdischarge jet and an air receiving port aligned with said jet and spacedtherefrom so as to permit the edge of a moving web to pass between saidjet and receiving port, and each of said servomotors includes adouble-acting cylinder unit controlled by a regulator unit sensitive tothe variation in air pressure in said receiving port and operating toadmit fluid pressure equally to opposite sides of the piston of saidcylinder unit or to admit excess fluid pressure to one of the oppositesides of the piston depending, respectively, upon whether said edgesensitive device is zeroed with respect to said web edge or whether saidweb has shifted to one side of said zero line.

4. The apparatus called for in claim 1 wherein in each of said devicessensitive to the location of the edge of a moving web comprises aphotoelectric eye unit, and each of said servomotors comprises areversible electric motor controlled by a regulator unit sensitive tothe variation in the amount of light transmitted by said photoelectriceye and operating to de-energize the fields of said motor or to energizeone of the fields depending, respectively, upon whether said edgesensitive device is zeroed with respect to the web edge or whether saidweb has shifted to one side of said zero line.

JASON L. MCCLEARY. ROY E. LOWEY, JR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,347,893 Dickhaut May 2, 1944 2,399,418 Wood Apr. 30, 19462,491,636 Amos Dec. 20, 1949 2,506,053 Zuckerman May 2, 1950

